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Following In Dad’s Marathon Steps

Shayne Enright had to work the morning of the Honolulu Marathon Dec. 9, but that didn’t stop her from running the 26.2-mile course.

A former reporter for KITV now working as a public information officer for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, Enright was hired by the Honolulu Marathon to co-anchor the play-by-play radio broadcast of the women’s professional race on Cox Radio’s KKNE from a pace truck.

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She was at the start line with 24,366 runners (of which 24,167 finished) at 5 a.m., and at the end when the first female finisher, Valentina Galimova of Russia, crossed after 2 hours, 31 minutes and 23 seconds.

After that, Enright’s friend drove her back to the start line, which by then was cleared completely with no signs of a marathon taking place, and she officially started her race.

It wasn’t until about mile 10 near Kahala when she saw an aide station, caught up to some marathoners and from there quickly became part of the large pack.

Re-energized by the sounds of cheering and clapping from spectators, she made her way to the finish after about 4 hours and 25 minutes.

Enright was on the cross country and track team for the University of Hawaii, but never was interested in doing a marathon. Cross country and track events are usually no more than three miles.

“My dad (retired family court judge Ken Enright) had done 29 marathons,” she explains. “But he had a swimming accident on Lanai eight years ago that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

“(At that time) he already registered for his 30th, and I decided to continue to carry the torch, and then I got hooked.”

Enright, 30, now has completed the last eight Honolulu Marathons. Her first four were done the regular way – starting at 5 a.m. with the fireworks, and the overall excitement and adrenaline that comes with being among the 20,000-plus runners from beginning to end.

The last four marathons, however, were more of a challenge – starting a few hours later when the sun is up, it’s hot and there’s no one to cheer you on.

“It’s a different race, but I think people face much bigger physical challenges, and my dad is definitely what motivates me,” notes Enright. “Everyone has their own reason for doing a marathon. For me, it started off with an unfortunate incident, and I don’t think many people would say it’s easy, but I’ve been able to do it with the support of my family and my faith in God.”

Enright says her goal is to beat her dad’s record of 29 marathons, but the bigger dream is to one day do the race together.

“My dad has had a miraculous recovery,” she says. “They thought he would never move his toes and fingers again. But now he’s learning to walk again.”

For anyone thinking about doing the Honolulu Marathon this year scheduled for Dec. 8, there’s a registration special of $1 per mile ($26.20 total entry fee) for Hawaii residents through Jan. 4. Register at honolulumarathon.org.